Aer Lingus will be forced to give US authorities the names, itineraries and credit card details of all passengers flying to the United States under a deal reached between the European Commission and US customs officials.
The European Union has agreed to give US authorities personal information of US-bound passengers as part of its fight against terror, the EU Transport Commissioner Ms Loyola de Palacio has confirmed.
"There is an agreement in principle," she said, on giving US authorities access to information on US-bound passengers contained in air-ticket reservation systems.
The information to be made available "for transfer to their own files" includes such details as special meal requests.
The Americans have undertaken to protect the information they receive, Ms Palacio added.
Further talks will be held later this month to finalise the agreement, with the US authorities beginning verification of computer systems in March.
Europe is seeking assurances that US access to the system will be restricted to America-bound flights only.
"We don't want them to know who's flying to China," said an EU source. "That's none of their business."
AFP